The Dinosaur - Velociraptor

The villains in the hit movie Jurassic Park, these deadly dinosaurs hunted in packs and once they had a prey in their sights it was almost impossible to escape.

Speedy and agile these carnivores could easily catch slower-moving and heavier dinosaurs. They would either grab their prey with their front claws and use their powerful back legs and long rear claws to rip it to shreds or they would stand on one leg and rip at their prey with the other. Scary stuff!

In Jurassic Park the Velociraptors killed off the humans until it seemed unlikely anyone would survive. At the last moment, the T-Tex managed to defeat the nasty "raptors".

A fierce fighter, in 1972 dinosaur hunters in Mongolia discovered the fossils of a Velociraptor locked in battle with a much heavier Protoceratops. It was typical of the Velociraptor to take on a tough opponent but in this case it was defeated. It died of a crushed chest as it was holding on to the neck frill of Protoceratops and ripping open its chest.

With a long, curved blade of a claw on the second toe of each foot, as well as clawed hands and sharp teeth, the Velociraptor was a menacing predator. Its large brain meant it could manage complicated co-ordinated movements that it put to good use in attacking other dinosaurs and ripping them to shreds.

A pack of velociraptors would have been a frightening sight for any dinosaur to meet in the night!